Dubrovnik or Zadar?

The two are close here. Both have the same clear Adriatic, and both have pebble and concrete platforms in town rather than sandy beaches. In Dubrovnik you swim off the rocks below the walls or at Banje with the Old Town right behind you, and the best water is a boat ride away on Lokrum or the Elafiti islands, where Sunj on Lopud is a rare sandy cove.

Swimming in Zadar itself is plainer: off the promenade, or at Kolovare and pine-shaded Borik. Sand is easier to reach, though. The long, shallow beaches at Nin are twenty minutes north, and Sakarun on Dugi Otok, with its pale sand and turquoise water, makes a full day out.

Neither city is a reason to travel for food, and both serve much the same Dalmatian menu of grilled fish, black risotto and octopus. The local specialities differ. Around Dubrovnik they are the Ston oysters and mussels and the red wines of Peljesac. Zadar has lamb cooked under the peka bell, Pag cheese and its own Maraschino liqueur.

In Dubrovnik, eating badly is easy along the Stradun, where menus are aimed at cruise visitors, so good meals take a trip out to Lapad, Gruz or the villages of Konavle. The konobas on Zadar's peninsula are much alike, and the market by the walls is a good way to start a morning.

Dubrovnik has the stronger set of sights. The walls run unbroken for almost 2km, and with the Rector's Palace, the Franciscan and Dominican monasteries and Fort Lovrijenac they make a remarkably intact walled city. The museum on Mount Srd adds the story of the siege of 1991-92.

Zadar offers age rather than grandeur. The Roman forum, the round ninth-century St Donatus and the Museum of Ancient Glass are all a few minutes' walk apart, and the Sea Organ is a modern sight Dubrovnik has nothing like. It is rewarding, but there is noticeably less to see.

Both are small, summer-only scenes that start with a drink at sunset. Dubrovnik's signature is the bars cut into the rocks outside the seaward walls, and it has a club inside the Revelin fortress. Zadar gathers on the Riva by the Sea Organ before moving on to the café-bars of Kalelarga.

The real difference is Zrće on Pag, about an hour from Zadar, where a young crowd finds proper beach clubbing in high summer. Dubrovnik has nothing like it nearby, and both towns go quiet once the season ends.

Outdoors in Dubrovnik is mostly about the view. You can climb or take the cable car up Mount Srd, kayak under the walls, wander wooded Lokrum, or go further out to the saltwater lakes of Mljet. It is beautiful, but the list is short.

Zadar has far more within reach. Paklenica's gorges offer serious hiking and some of Croatia's best climbing, boats run to the stark Kornati and the cliffs of Telašćica, and both Krka and Plitvice can be done in a day. For several active days, Zadar is the better base.

Both have a good spread of outings, but of different kinds. Dubrovnik's advantage is the border: the Bay of Kotor and Perast in Montenegro, and Trebinje or, on a long day, Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Summer queues at the border can cost hours.

Zadar's trips stay inside Croatia and run along the motorway, to Šibenik's cathedral and to Trogir and Split. Closer in are tiny Nin and Pag town, and the ferry reaches car-free Silba.

Neither city has much made for children, and in both the sea carries a family day. Dubrovnik has a few more small treats, such as the aquarium in the St John fortress, the cable car and the boat to Lokrum. Its stairs make pushchairs a struggle, though, and families usually stay out in Lapad or Babin Kuk.

Zadar is easier on foot. The old town is flat and car-free, the waterfront suits scooters, and the lit tiles of the Greeting to the Sun hold children's attention after dark. Nin's shallow sand is the best beach for small children in either place.

Both centres are car-free and small enough to cross on foot in a quarter of an hour or less. The ground is what differs. Dubrovnik's side streets are steep stairways and most hotels are in outer districts linked by city buses. Zadar's peninsula is flat, and Kolovare beach is within walking distance.

Both rely on ferries from the harbour for the islands. Zadar's national parks and coastal towns really call for a hire car or an organised excursion, while in Dubrovnik a car is only worth having for Konavle, Ston and the border crossings.

Shopping is a sideline in both, with no fashion streets worth the trip. Dubrovnik's Old Town is mostly souvenir shops, and the things worth buying are Konavle embroidery, coral and filigree jewellery, and the figs and candied orange peel from the Gunduliceva Poljana market. Zadar's marble Kalelarga has some fashion chains and galleries, and the best things to take home are Maraschino, Pag cheese and Pag lace.

The gap is widest in July and August, when most people travel. A summer room in or near Dubrovnik's Old Town costs what it would in a major Western European capital, the restaurants along the Stradun charge extra, and walking the walls, riding the cable car and taking boats to Lokrum soon add up. Staying in Lapad, Gruz or Cavtat and coming in spring or autumn, when room prices drop sharply, softens the bill, but Dubrovnik stays the dearer of the two.

Zadar's rooms near the peninsula also cost more in high summer, but they start from a lower base. Outside July and August, private apartments make a longer stay affordable. The old town costs little to enjoy, since the forum, the waterfront and the Sea Organ are free to walk around. What pushes up a Zadar budget is the trips out: park entry at Krka and Paklenica, and boat excursions to the Kornati.

Both have a thin calendar for most of the year and one summer highlight. Dubrovnik's Summer Festival, held every July and August since 1950, mixes theatre, dance and concerts in open-air settings such as Fort Lovrijenac and the atrium of the Rector's Palace.

Zadar's highlight is more intimate. The Musical Evenings in St Donatus bring early and chamber music into the ninth-century church, and in summer you may hear klapa singing in the squares.

Neither city has a spa tradition, and wellness in both means hotel spas, in Lapad and Babin Kuk or at Borik. Zadar adds the mineral-rich mud of Nin's lagoon and a slower daily rhythm, ending with sunset on the Sea Organ steps.

Dubrovnik's crowded summer centre is hard to relax in. The restful version of a stay there means the Elafiti islands or Cavtat, ideally in spring or autumn.